III 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 316 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United Nations and other international organizations should not be allowed to exercise control over 

the Internet. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 15, 2005 

Mr. COLEMAN (for Mr. WARNER, Mr. PRYOR, Mr. SMITH, and Mr. DEMINT) 

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United Nations 

and other international organizations should not be allowed to exercise control over the Internet. 

Whereas market-based policies and private sector leadership 

have given the Internet the flexibility to evolve; 

Whereas given the importance of the Internet to the global 

economy, it is essential that the underlying domain name 

system and technical infrastructure of the Internet remain stable and secure; 

Whereas the Internet was created in the United States and 

has flourished under United States supervision and oversight, and the Federal Government has followed a path 

of transferring Internet control from the defense sector 
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to the civilian sector, including the Internet Corporation 

for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) with the 

goal of full privatization; 

Whereas the developing world deserves the access to knowledge, services, commerce, and communication, the accompanying benefits to economic development, education, and 

health care, and the informed discussion that is the bedrock of democratic self-government that the Internet provides; 

Whereas the explosive and hugely beneficial growth of the 

Internet did not result from increased government involvement but from the opening of the Internet to commerce and private sector innovation; 

Whereas on June 30, 2005, President George W. Bush announced that the United States intends to maintain its 

historic role over the master ‘‘root zone’’ file of the Internet, which lists all authorized top-level Internet domains; 

Whereas the recently articulated principles of the United 

States on the domain name and addressing system of the 

Internet (DNS) are that— 

(1) the Federal Government will— 

(A) preserve the security and stability of the 

DNS; 

(B) take no action with the potential to adversely affect the effective and efficient operation of 

the DNS; and 

(C) maintain the historic role of the United 

States regarding modifications to the root zone file; 

(2) governments have a legitimate interest in the 

management of country code top level domains (ccTLD); 
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(3) the United States is committed to working with 

the international community to address the concerns of 

that community in accordance with the stability and security of the DNS; 

(4) ICANN is the appropriate technical manager of 

the Internet, and the United States will continue to provide oversight so that ICANN maintains focus and meets 

its core technical mission; and 

(5) dialogue relating to Internet governance should 

continue in multiple relevant fora, and the United States 

encourages an ongoing dialogue with all stakeholders and 

will continue to support market-based approaches and 

private sector leadership; 

Whereas the final report issued by the Working Group on 

Internet Governance (WGIG), established by the United 

Nations Secretary General in accordance with a mandate 

given during the first World Summit on the Information 

Society, and comprised of 40 members from governments, 

private sector, and civil society, issued 4 possible models, 

1 of which envisages a Global Internet Council that 

would assume international Internet governance; 

Whereas that report contains recommendations for relegating 

the private sector and nongovernmental organizations to 

an advisory capacity; 

Whereas the European Union has also proposed transferring 

control of the Internet, including the global allocation of 

Internet Protocol number blocks, procedures for changing 

the root zone file, and rules applicable to DNS, to a ‘‘new 

model of international cooperation’’ which could confer 

significant leverage to the Governments of Iran, Cuba, 

and China, and could impose an undesirable layer of politicized bureaucracy on the operations of the Internet 
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that could result in an inadequate response to the rapid 

pace of technological change; 

Whereas some nations that advocate radical change in the 

structure of Internet governance censor the information 

available to their citizens through the Internet and use 

the Internet as a tool of surveillance to curtail legitimate 

political discussion and dissent, and other nations operate 

telecommunications systems as state-controlled monopolies or highly-regulated and highly-taxed entities; 

Whereas some nations in support of transferring Internet 

governance to an entity affiliated with the United Nations, or another international entity, might seek to have 

such an entity endorse national policies that block access 

to information, stifle political dissent, and maintain outmoded communications structures; 

Whereas the structure and control of Internet governance has 

profound implications for homeland security, competition 

and trade, democratization, free expression, access to information, privacy, and the protection of intellectual 

property, and the threat of some nations to take unilateral actions that would fracture the root zone file would 

result in a less functional Internet with diminished benefits for all people; 

Whereas the Declaration of Principles of the First World 

Summit on the Information Society, held in Geneva in 

2003, delegates from 175 nations declared the ‘‘common 

desire and commitment to build a people-centered, inclusive and development oriented Information Society, where 

everyone can create, access, utilize and share information 

and knowledge’’; 
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Whereas delegates at the First World Summit also reaffirmed, ‘‘as an essential foundation of the Information 

Society, and as outlined in Article 19 of the Universal 

Declaration of Human Rights, that everyone has the 

right to freedom of opinion and expression’’ and that 

‘‘this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and import information 

and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers’’; 

Whereas the United Nations Secretary General has stated the 

objective of the 2005 World Summit on the Information 

Society in Tunis is to ensure ‘‘benefits that new information and communication technologies, including the Internet, can bring to economic and social development’’ and 

that ‘‘to defend the Internet is to defend freedom itself’’; 

and 

Whereas discussions at the November 2005 World Summit 

on the Information Society may include discussion of 

transferring control of the Internet to a new intergovernmental entity, and could be the beginning of a prolonged 

international debate regarding the future of Internet governance: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) calls on the President to continue to oppose 

3 any effort to transfer control of the Internet to the 

4 United Nations or any other international entity; 

5 (2) applauds the President for— 

6 (A) clearly and forcefully asserting that 

7 the United States has no present intention of 

8 relinquishing the historic leadership role the 
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1 United States has played in Internet govern2 ance; and 

3 (B) articulating a vision of the future of 

4 the Internet that places privatization over 

5 politicization with respect to the Internet; and 

6 (3) calls on the President to— 

7 (A) recognize the need for, and pursue a 

8 continuing and constructive dialogue with the 

9 international community on, the future of Inter10 net governance; and 

11 (B) advance the values of an open Internet 

12 in the broader trade and diplomatic conversa13 tions of the United States. 

Æ